How to readjust when you’re sick of the same old thing

In this episode, Matt Medeiros is winding down Season 7 by interviewing Kim Doyal, who is “formally” known as the WordPress Chick. Kim has been obsessed with content since closing out all the service work in her previous business. She is presenting the Content Creator Summit the first full week of March and has a closed Content Creators Facebook group that people have been quickly joining. She and Matt discuss the move to SaaS and how that was a “happy accident” that allows her personality to show in her new business endeavor.

Good interview, but I’m going to take a contrarian stance here. I believe it’s not in your best interest (or the client’s) to do work, especially marketing work, for free. Even if you get a case study. Even if you get a testimonial.

The reason I say this is there are a ton of things in online marketing that require funds to do the work. Creating content, running Facebook ads, outsourcing graphic design or content creation, paying for plugins, just to name a few.

If you’re willing to pay for three months of this out of your own pocket, more power to you. But usually the type of clients that won’t pay for this kind of work are not the kind of clients you’re trying to attract anyway. By basing your case study off of a client that you’re pitching free work to, you’re going to attract more of that type of business (usually very small businesses).

In my experience, clients who get work at a free or deeply discounted price will only refer similar prospects to you. And similarly, clients that you charge a sustainable rate to will refer you to prospects that have healthy businesses and can afford to pay that rate.

If you need experience, please charge something, and raise your rates as you get more case studies in your portfolio, or you feel more confident charging a sustainable rate. Giving people things for free doesn’t lead to better work. Trust me on this.

Feel free to flame me in the comments if you disagree, and think I’m barking up the wrong tree.

Yes John I totally agree with your comments the only additional thing I would say is that if you need a good case study quickly is trying to do some work for a non-profit on the understanding that they will be available and willing to give you great testimonial.